True North Jiu-Jitsu runs adult BJJ on Brunette Ave in Maillardville, minutes from the Lougheed interchange and the New Westminster line. You can train gi, no-gi, or both, and you can start with no experience at all. Your first class is free.
Online exclusive offer
Secure your spot & get started today with our EXCLUSIVE online offer!
By opting into the web form above you are providing consent for True North Jiu-Jitsu to send you periodic text messages. Standard rates may apply. You may opt-out anytime by replying STOP.
Why Adults Train BJJ Here
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the grappling art of leverage, position and control. At True North Jiu-Jitsu you learn it from instructors who have spent decades doing it, in a room where beginners and competitors train side by side.
You train both. The gi teaches patience, grip fighting and precise mechanics. No-gi teaches speed, body locks and scrambles. Most students do both, and the two make each other better.
BJJ was built around the problem of a smaller person controlling a larger one. You learn how to survive on the bottom, get back to your feet, and end a situation without throwing a punch.
No experience is assumed. You are taught how to fall, how to move, and how to protect yourself before anyone asks you to roll hard. You can join any week of the year.
Start Where You Are
The most common reason adults put off their first BJJ class is the idea that they should get in shape first, or learn something first. There is no first step before this one. Beginners arrive every month at True North Jiu-Jitsu, and every one of them started by learning how to move on the ground and how to stay safe.
Classes are taught from fundamentals up, so you can walk in on any week and be given something you can actually use that day. Your first class is free, and you do not need a uniform for it. Wear a t-shirt and shorts without zippers or pockets.
Gi, No-Gi and Competition
Some schools run one fixed curriculum and one style. We train gi and no-gi as parts of the same art. The gi slows the game down and rewards detail, grip control and setups you have to earn. No-gi removes the handles and rewards pressure, timing and connection.
Competition training is available for the students who want it, and completely optional for everyone else. Plenty of our adults never compete and progress just fine. If you do want to test yourself at a tournament, there are coaches here who have done it and can prepare you properly.
Who Is Teaching
Professor Khatib Ahmad leads the academy as a fourth degree black belt. He is joined on the mats by Professor Mahan Salimian and Professor Ash "Smash" Mashreghi, both black belts, along with Coach Igor Vavi at brown belt and Coach Kim at purple belt.
That depth matters more than it sounds. It means smaller groups get real attention, it means the detail you are shown has been pressure tested over decades, and it means there is always someone on the mat who can answer the question you are actually asking.
Train Around Your Schedule
Adult Jiu-Jitsu runs Monday 7 to 8pm, Tuesday 1 to 2pm and 7 to 8pm, Wednesday 1 to 2pm, 6 to 7pm and 7 to 8pm, and Thursday 1 to 2pm and 7 to 8pm. Those midday classes are unusual, and for shift workers, people working from home and anyone whose evenings belong to their family, they are the difference between training and not training.
The academy sits at 814 Brunette Ave in Maillardville, the southwest corner of Coquitlam. That puts it close to Sapperton and about two kilometres from the New Westminster line, with easy access from Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Burnaby and Burquitlam off the Lougheed corridor.
True North Jiu-Jitsu Reviews
See what our members are saying! Browse through the reviews to get a glimpse of the True North Jiu-Jitsu experience straight from our community. From parents of young students to adult martial artists, our members love training at the best martial arts school in Coquitlam.
"I’ve trained at True North Jiu Jitsu Academy and can confidently say it’s one of the best gyms around. The coaches are extremely knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely care about each student’s progress, whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced practitioner. The..."
- JUN
"A couple of months ago, I decided to try Jiu Jitsu, mostly out of curiosity and with a half-closed mindset. I honestly didn’t think it would become a long-term passion but I couldn’t have been more wrong. After finishing my very first one-hour class, I already wanted to come..."
- Anna Kwok
"This is the place !! If you want to teach your kids to excel at life in a safe and kind envoronment this is the place to go! And if you want to get into a really healthy hobby as an adult without running into guys with egos or attitiudes like some other clubs this is a really..."
- Fraser Dodich
"Professor Ahmad is a dedicated instructor, great mentor and father with a healthy lifestyle, great to see his success and growth. A great example for building strong minds and creating leaders in the community, with his evident positive energy, the minute you meet him. Highly..."
- Cedar Roofs
"I started my jiu-jitsu journey at at True North Jiu Jitsu Academy for 7 years, and overall it was a great experience. The owners and instructors genuinely care about their students and work hard to create a respectful, welcoming environment on the mats. Training is well..."
- Omar Khan
"Excellent Jiu-Jitsu academy! Friendly and welcoming environment, highly skilled instructors, and a great atmosphere focused on learning and growth. Amazing place for both adults and kids. Highly recommend!"
- Igor Avi
"True North Jiu-Jitsu Academy was an incredibly welcoming and friendly place. I took my children there yesterday to try it out, and they had an amazing time. The atmosphere was comfortable and positive, the people were very kind, and everything felt well organized and supportive...."
- amanda k
"Been coming here for a few months now and this team really treats everybody like family. Extremely welcoming to beginners and they always have multiple black belts present. On top of that all the blue-brown belts are very informative as well. 10-10 highly recommend checking them..."
- Gavin Chia
Online exclusive offer
Secure your spot & get started today with our EXCLUSIVE online offer!
By opting into the web form above you are providing consent for True North Jiu-Jitsu to send you periodic text messages. Standard rates may apply. You may opt-out anytime by replying STOP.
The Long Game
Jiu-Jitsu belts move slowly by design. The white to blue belt journey commonly takes a year or two of consistent training, and the rank is a record of mat time rather than a course you complete. Nobody here is going to rush you toward one.
What changes faster is your day-to-day. Within a few months you stop panicking under someone's weight, you start recognising positions before they finish happening, and rounds that used to gas you become rounds you can think through. That is the part students notice first.
Beyond the Technique
Adults come to True North Jiu-Jitsu for different reasons. Some want to get in shape, some want self-defense, some want to compete. Consistent training tends to deliver all three whether you planned on it or not.
A round of live rolling is grip strength, core work and interval cardio at the same time. Two or three classes a week changes how you move, and the training is interesting enough that you keep showing up.
Jiu-Jitsu is a physical puzzle with a resisting opponent. Learning to stay calm and think while someone is trying to pass your guard is a skill that follows you off the mat.
Our students are rated 5.0 across 116 Google reviews, and most of that is about the people. Training partners in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Burquitlam and New Westminster look after each other.
Access Our Schedule &
Secure your spot & get started today with our EXCLUSIVE online offer!
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions before your first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class in Coquitlam? These are the ones we hear most from new adult students. If yours is not here, call the academy at (604) 777-0396 and ask.
Gi Jiu-Jitsu is trained in the traditional uniform, and the jacket and pants become legal grips, which makes the game more methodical and grip focused. No-gi is trained in a rash guard and shorts, so with nothing to hold onto the pace is faster and relies more on body connection and underhooks. True North Jiu-Jitsu trains both, and most adult students do a mix of the two.
No. Come to your free trial class in a plain t-shirt and athletic shorts with no zippers, buttons or pockets, and we will take it from there. If you decide to keep training in the gi, we will point you to the right size and weight rather than let you guess. There is no equipment you need to buy before you have tried the class.
Fit enough to walk into the building. Adults start here from every level of conditioning, including people who have not trained in years, and you set your own pace during drilling and rolling. Jiu-Jitsu is a technique sport before it is a fitness sport, and the fitness arrives as a byproduct of showing up.
Jiu-Jitsu is a contact sport, so bumps and sore muscles are part of it, but serious injuries are uncommon in a well run room. Beginners are taught to fall safely, submissions are applied slowly, and tapping early is treated as good training rather than losing. Our instructors match training partners carefully and supervise every round.
For most students training two or three times a week, blue belt is commonly one to two years away. There is no fixed timeline because promotions reflect what you can actually do on the mat, not hours logged. The honest answer is to stop counting and train, because the students who progress fastest are the ones who are not watching the calendar.
No. Competition training is available at True North Jiu-Jitsu for students who want to test themselves at tournaments, and it is entirely optional. A large share of our adult students train purely for fitness, self-defense and enjoyment and never enter a competition. Both paths run in the same classes.